It has been a great last few weeks out on the farm. As summer sets in and the weather starts to warm up, we have seen our spring crops growing almost faster than we can harvest. Which also means the insects have been trying to have feasts of their own, and some of our early season crops have seen their last harvests.
Our lovely red potato crops
are enjoyed by all, including the voracious Colorado Potato Beetle, shown here chomping away in its adult stage
No, we’re not growing Christmas trees, these are lettuces making a last ditch effort to go to seed.
One of our storage containers just got a lot smellier with the addition of our garlic harvest, which has been set out to dry.
The procession of the seasons also means we are hard at work getting ready for summer production…
Apprentice Jordan Tony transplants seedlings from open flats
And testing out different ways to combat weeds and pests…
This may look like a very unkempt row of squash, but actually we are utilizing a no-till method of farming to reduce weed pressure.
There have also been some new additions to the farm, including our very own chicken flock, which aside from egg production, also allows us to naturally fertilize next year’s Home Garden while getting rid of some pesky insects.
Egg-OK
A great group of college students and recent graduates have also joined the Small Farm Unit team as part of the CEFS Summer Internship Program.
Some of the interns help with a sugar pea harvest at the Washington Park Community Garden
The Small Farm Unit team enjoys a delicious potluck dinner in the office
We were also fortunate to welcome another group of elementary school students from the Discover Ag Program.
Kiddos learn the importance of proper irrigation in one of our high tunnels
- as well as getting up close and personal with our young steers.
And, as always, the SWARMers have been lending a hand doing some of the dirty work.
Apprentice Angela Entzel leads the SWARMers in building a hot compost pile.
All the extra hands have really been a great help, and we’re definitely going to need it because even as the sun sets on a beautiful spring day over the Neuse, another is sure to come and bring with it new surprises and exciting adventures in agriculture.
CEFS Apprentice Blog 